Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify and describe public health nurses' competence, their perceived need for more competence and follow-up of premature children in public health services. The survey of follow-up focused on to which degree "Faglige retningslinjer for oppfølging av for tidlig fødte barn" (Directorate for Health and Social Affairs, 2007a) is implemented in public health services for children 0-5 years.

Background: Existing research has documented a high prevalence of difficulties for premature children. The difficulties vary from adaptive to behavioral and sosio-emotional developmental problems. Norwegian public health nurses play an important role in the follow-up and the interdisciplinary collaboration regarding these children and their families.

Method and selection: The empirical study has a descriptive design using a postal survey. The questionnaire was developed, using parts of Andersson, Osberg og Norvolls instrument from 2006. The instrument was pilot-tested and then sent to 122 public health nurses in a region of East Norway. The response rate was 69 % (N=84). Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 16.0.

Results: The study revealed that public health nurses have a high level of postgraduate and further education, but also revealed a perceived need for more knowledge and competence in the follow-up of premature children. Public health nurses experience high competence in language assessment and use assessment tools in this work. Public health nurses experience a need for more assessment tools and methods in public health services. "Faglige retningslinjer for oppfølging av for tidlig fødte barn" is to some extent implemented in practice.

Conclusion: Priority should be given to public health nurses' need for competence development identified in this study. "Faglige retningslinjer for oppfølging av for tidlig fødte barn" should be further implemented in practice.